Controlling an Electronic Device

ABSTRACT

An electronic device ( 500 ) comprising means ( 510 ) for identifying a motion pattern in a motion of the device, and means ( 510 ) for eliminating the effect of the motion pattern from a control motion employed for controlling the device. The identification unit ( 510 ) eliminates the effect of an identified motion pattern from the control motion by comparing the motion information measured by the measurement unit ( 508 ) with the control motion stored in the memory ( 504 ).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to identifying movement in a mobile environmentand particularly to utilizing the identified movement in controlling adevice.

Several different manners of controlling an electronic device, such as amobile telephone, have been developed. Alongside with keyboard-basedcontrol, control methods include those wherein the control is based onvoice and gestures, for example. In a prior art device, the display canbe implemented in such a manner that, irrespective of changes in theorientation of the device, the text of the display can always be readvertically. It is also known to zoom the display by turning the device.Solutions based on acceleration sensors have also been utilized forinstance for replacing the keyboard of a computer in such a manner thata given finger position is associated with a given character input.

Said prior art applications are associated with the significant drawbackthat the control does not take into consideration the environment or theoperating situation wherein the device is being used or identificationis being performed. For this reason, should any essential motion-baseddisturbing factors be associated with the environment or operatingsituation, the risk of misrecognitions is apparent and substantiallycompromises the usability of the device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The object of the invention is thus to provide an improved method and anapparatus for implementing the method in a manner that better takes intoconsideration the operating situation and/or environment of the device.Accordingly, the object of the invention is a method of controlling anelectronic device, comprising identifying a motion pattern in the motionof the device and eliminating the effect of the identified motionpattern from a control motion used for controlling the device.

The invention also relates to a software product comprising a softwareroutine for receiving measurement information descriptive of a motion ofthe device, a software routine for identifying a motion pattern in themeasurement information, and a software routine for eliminating theeffect of the identified motion pattern from a control motion used forcontrolling the device and included in the measurement information.

The invention also relates to an electronic device comprising means foridentifying a motion pattern in a motion of the device, and means foreliminating the effect of the identified motion pattern from a controlmotion used for controlling the device.

Preferred embodiments of the invention are described in the dependentclaims.

The invention is based on aiming at identifying, in an electronicdevice, whether the device is susceptible to an identifiable motionpattern. An identifiable motion pattern may be directed to an electronicdevice for instance when the device is subjected to mechanicalvibration. Herein, mechanical vibration refers to a recurring motiondirected to the device when the device is in a train or a car, forexample. In association with the description of the invention, anidentifiable motion pattern may also refer to a motion patterncorresponding to the walk of a person carrying the device, for example.

In accordance with the invention, the motion pattern is identified andits effect is eliminated from the device control motion. The controlmotion is a gesture, such as a turn or a swing of the device, forexample. The control motion may also be a tap on the device, forexample.

The device according to the invention may be e.g. a mobile telephone, aportable computer or another corresponding device enabling motionidentification.

An advantage of the method and device of the invention is that thecontrol motions intended to control the device can be identifiedconsiderably better and with fewer erroneous identifications once anidentified disturbance is eliminated from the control motions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

In the following, the invention will be described in more detail inconnection with preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the method of the invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates the identification of a motion pattern according toan embodiment;

FIG. 3 illustrates the identification of a motion pattern according toan embodiment;

FIG. 4 illustrates a measurement signal filtered from a known motionpattern;

FIG. 5 shows an electronic device according to an embodiment as a blockdiagram.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following, an embodiment of the method according to the inventionwill be described by means of FIG. 1. In the initial step 102 of themethod, a given reference motion pattern is stored in an electronicdevice. The reference motion pattern can be stored in the device forinstance at the factory in connection with the manufacture of thedevice. The stored reference motion patterns may describe the operatingenvironment of the device, for instance that the device is in a train orcarried by a person riding a bicycle. The patterns stored in the deviceas a factory setting may be based for instance on a large number ofoperating situation examples, from which an average motion pattern isgenerated. Alternatively, the device may comprise several alternativepatterns for a given operating environment, such as a train.

In addition to the reference motion patterns stored as a factorysetting, the user may teach the device the desired patterns. Forexample, the user may teach the device a reference motion patterncorresponding to his walk by depressing a given key at the start and theend of the teaching. The device stores the data between the keystrokesand analyses it by searching the data for acceleration signal valuesrecurring in a certain manner, for example.

Generally, it is advantageous to keep the motion measurement, whichconsumes much energy, switched off in an electronic device, such as amobile telephone. For example, conditions may be set in the device as towhen motion measurement is activated. As regards the condition to bechecked, two different operating situations can be distinguished,device-originating and user-originating operating situations. Thedevice-originating operating situation according to step 104 refers toan operating situation wherein the device is aware of the event beforethe user is. For example, in the case of a mobile telephone, adevice-terminating call is an example of a device-originating event. Themobile telephone is aware of the incoming call based on the signallingpreceding the call, and is thus able to detect the start of thedevice-originating event on the basis of the start of said signalling.Other examples of device-originating events that can be brought forwardinclude for instance a short message arriving at the mobile telephone ora timer triggering off, e.g. an alarm clock or a calendar alarm in anelectronic device.

A user-originating operating situation refers to an event originatingfrom the user. In a user-originating operating situation, the device maydeduce the start of the use of the device on the basis of a giveninitial impulse, for example. Herein, an initial impulse refers to afunction by means of which the device is able to conclude the start ofthe use. As an example of an initial impulse, opening of the keypad lockmay be mentioned. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a device-originatingevent, but it can also be applied to a user-originating event with theexception of steps 104 and 110.

In an embodiment, the start of a device-originating or user-originatingsituation initiates motion measurement in the device in accordance withstep 106.

Although conditions may be set on motion measurement, continuous motionstatus measurement in the device is also feasible. For example, in auser-originating situation, the device may operate such that the devicecontinuously aims at identifying gestures by comparing a measured motionwith the threshold values of one or more gestures. The device may alsotape its motion in a memory for a given time, such as for the durationof 10 seconds, for example. If uncertainty exists at a given point intime whether the user performed a gesture, the taped data may bereverted to and attempts may be made to identity the motion pattern inthe data. This may improve the gesture identification performed at saidpoint in time, once the identified motion pattern can be filtered off.Motion status measurement can also be performed periodically in thedevice. As an example may be mentioned recurring signalling, based onlocation determination, for example, between a mobile telephone and anetwork, allowing the motion status to be measured always when thedevice has to be activated also otherwise because of the signalling.

Step 106 describes motion measurement in an electronic device. Motionmay be measured by means of one or more motion parameters, such as anacceleration parameter, for example. Acceleration measurement may beperformed for instance in three mutually perpendicular lineardirections: directions x, y and z. In addition to accelerationmeasurement in said linear directions, angular acceleration may also bemeasured in the device by means of a magnetometer or a gyroscope, forexample.

In step 108, an attempt is made to identify a motion pattern possiblydetectable in the motion of the device. In principle, the motion patternmay be identified in two different manners, either by comparing themotion with a previously stored/taught reference motion pattern or byaiming at identifying some new motion pattern in the data measured.

Attempts may be made to identify a motion pattern motionparameter-specifically for instance by studying the x-oriented linearcomponent and the y-oriented linear component separately. In identifyinga motion pattern, several motion parameters may also be studied togetheras a whole. In this case, the sum vector composed of the accelerationcomponents can be compared with a predetermined threshold value. In thecase of a three-dimensional vector, the orientation of the device may bechecked from time to time and, if necessary, take it into considerationwhen amending the direction of the sum vector.

When the motion parameter measured is compared with a previously storedreference motion pattern, the comparison can be carried out for a givenpredetermined period of time. If the correlation between the motionparameter and the reference pattern is sufficiently high during theperiod of time measured, it may be stated that the reference motionpattern was found in the motion parameter. In a preferred embodiment, arecurring motion pattern, i.e. periodicity in a signal, is identified inthe measured signal by means of an autocorrelation function.Autocorrelation indicates the correlation between the signal values andthe previous values, i.e. in that case, there is no need to utilizepreviously stored reference motion patterns or usage context data in theidentification of the motion pattern.

In the identification of a new motion pattern, the procedure may be forinstance such that a reference sample of a given length is taken fromthe signal to be measured, such as a z acceleration signal. The samplingcan be timed for instance at such a point of the signal when the signaldistinctly deviates from the basic level indicating immobility. Thereference sample taken can then be slid over the z signal to bemeasured, and if the reference sample corresponds with somepredetermined accuracy to a later signal sample, the conclusion is thatthe motion pattern has recurred. It is evident that threshold conditionscan be set on the recurrence of the motion pattern, such as that thedetected pattern recurs sufficiently often and that the congruity of thepattern in respect of the measured data is sufficiently significant, forexample. Once the motion pattern is found, attempts can still be madeseparately to identify the length and correct position in the timedomain of the pattern. This refers to the fact that at the initialstage, the reference sample did not necessarily hit the right positionin the time domain, but was in the middle of changes occurring in thesignal, for example. Once the correct position and length in the timedomain are found for the reference sample, the sample can be employed incorrecting a measured motion parameter.

In a preferred embodiment, attention is also paid in the device to thefact that the duration in time and amplitude of the motion pattern maychange slidingly in time. The motion pattern may also be visible in thedevice different when the device is in the pocket or the hand, forexample.

Furthermore, other irregularities in a recurring motion pattern,detected at given points in time, may be taken into account in thedevice. For example, even if no periodicity were detected in the signalat a given point in time, it does not necessarily mean that periodicityhas disappeared from the signal. In other words, a threshold condition,which may be a given time threshold value, for example, may be set onthe disappearance of periodicity. In this case, if periodicity is notdetected during a period of time longer than the threshold value, it maybe concluded to have disappeared.

In method step 110, once the motion pattern is measured, information onthe event is given to the user of the device in a device-originatingoperating situation.

In method step 112, the effect of the identified motion pattern on oneor more motion parameters is corrected. In an embodiment, a signalaccording to the measured motion pattern is directly subtracted from themeasured motion parameter in order to obtain a corrected motionparameter value. According to another embodiment, threshold valuesemployed for general motion identification are adjusted in the device.For example, if a mobile telephone allows an incoming call to beanswered, i.e. the device can be controlled by a swinging gesture of themagnitude of threshold value ‘k’, the threshold value may be raised tolevel ‘1.3*k’, for example, during an identified motion pattern, the newlevel being employed for controlling the device in the mannerillustrated by step 114. The gestures employed for controlling thedevice may be stored in the device in advance or the user himself mayteach the device the desired control gestures, which may be e.g. turns,swings, tilts, taps or the like. In association with teaching orstorage, a given threshold value set of acceleration signal valuesduring a given period of time, for example, is generated for eachgesture. Later, a gesture may be detected in the device such that one ormore acceleration signals measured fulfil the threshold conditiondetermined for it in advance. Herein, a threshold condition refers to aseries of acceleration component values in a given order and during agiven time, for example. At the identification stage, the order and/ortime limits may be interpreted more strictly or loosely depending onwhether the intention is to emphasize that the system does notaccidentally interpret some user motions unintentionally as gestures orthat the device will not erroneously fail to identify the correctgestures performed by the user. In a preferred embodiment, when thedevice detects that the user is performing a gesture, the device aims atseparately identifying the periodicity associated with the gesture.There is no need to eliminate such gesture-related periodicity. Anexample of gesture-related periodicity is that if the gesture performedby the user is a tap, the mechanics of the device may remain vibratingfor a moment, wherefore a gesture-related periodic component is visiblein the motion of the device.

In a preferred embodiment, the device aims at identifying a changeoccurring in an identified motion pattern at the beginning of a controlmotion. In other words, for example, if the user of a mobile telephoneis in a car, the device is subjected to mechanical vibration as a motionpattern. If a call is incoming to the mobile telephone, the devicemeasures the mechanical vibration before issuing an alarm to the user.At the instant of the alarm, if the mobile telephone is in a pocket, forexample, the device is momentarily subjected to a different accelerationthan previously when the user takes the device from the pocket into thehand. A momentary acceleration associated with the user's reaction canbe ignored. The mechanical vibration caused by the movement of the carcan also be seen in the device in a different manner in the hand thanwhat the vibration looked like when the device was in the pocket.

FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 illustrate the identification steps of the motionpattern and the gesture described in connection with FIG. 1. For thesake of simplicity, said figures show a signal 200, 300, 400 to bemeasured, as a uniplanar Y signal component, but in practice the signalto be measured/compared may also be a sum vector composed of severalcomponents. In the example shown in FIG. 2, a person can be thought tobe walking, whereby a periodically recurring motion pattern is formed inthe Y signal component 200 and includes signal peaks 200A and 200B. Amotion pattern 202, descriptive of a person's walk, has been stored inthe device or taught to the device in advance. The motion pattern 202 isslid on the time axis over the signal 200 measured and at point 202′,the data stored in the motion pattern 202 and the signal peak 200Bmeasured are observed to be congruent enough in order for the signal 200measured to be interpreted, in the device, to represent a person's walk.It is evident that at the initial moment of the measurement, the devicedoes not necessarily know that a person is walking, for which reason themeasured signal may have to be compared in the device with severalmotion patterns descriptive of different operating situations.

FIG. 3 illustrates an error identification problem in an electronicdevice employing motion identification. The assumption is that athreshold value 302 is specified in the device, and a signal whoseamplitude in the device exceeds said value is interpreted as a gesturethat initiates a predetermined function in the device. In the case ofFIG. 3, a signal peak 300A caused by walking would be erroneouslyinterpreted as a gesture initiating a function. However, the gesture theuser means is executed only at point 300B of the signal to be measured,at which point the gesture meant by the user is summed to the walkingsignal peak.

FIG. 4 shows a signal according to FIG. 3, from which the recurringmotion pattern caused by walking is filtered off. Signal peak 400B,exceeding a threshold value 402 and descriptive of an actual gestureperformed by the user is easily detectable in a remaining measuredsignal 400.

FIG. 5 shows an electronic device 500 according to an embodiment. Thedevice 500 comprises a control unit 502 that can be implemented bysoftware in a general-purpose processor, for example. The task of thecontrol unit is to coordinate the operation of the device. For example,the control unit 502 communicates with a memory unit 504 in the device.Motion patterns and/or gestures, for example, can be either stored inthe memory as a factory setting or taught by the user. The device mayalso comprise a user interface 506. For example, in the case of a mobiletelephone, the user interface may comprise a keyboard, a display, amicrophone and a loudspeaker. The keyboard and the display can be usedto control the operation of the device by means of menus, for example.In a mobile telephone, a given gesture can be taught for instance by theuser selecting a teaching function from a menu by means of a keyboardand a display, and selecting the starting and end times of the teachingby means of the keyboard. Naturally, the device may be controlled notonly with the keyboard, but also by means of voice or gestures, forexample.

The electronic device according to FIG. 5 also comprises an accelerationmeasurement unit 508, which can be implemented by means of one or morelinear acceleration sensors and/or one or more angular accelerationsensors, for example. Furthermore, the device may comprise anidentification unit 510, which aims at identifying a given motionpattern in the data measured by the measurement unit 508. Theidentification unit may aim at identifying the motion pattern either bycomparing the data measured with a reference pattern stored in thememory 504 or by aiming at identifying the motion pattern by means of apreviously stored reference pattern.

Furthermore, the identification unit 510 may compare the motioninformation measured by the measurement unit with the control motions,such as gestures, stored in the memory. The identification unit mayeliminate the effect of an identified motion pattern from the controlmotion, thus promoting the identification of the control motion.

The invention is implementable in an electronic device by softwarestorable in a processor, for example. In this case, the softwareincludes one or more software routines for executing the method steps ofthe method according to the invention. The invention is alsoimplementable with an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) orwith separate logics components.

It is obvious to a person skilled in the art that, as technologyadvances, the basic idea of the invention can be implemented in avariety of ways. Consequently, the invention and its embodiments are notrestricted to the above examples, but can vary within the scope of theclaims.

1. A method of controlling an electronic device, comprising: identifyinga motion pattern in the motion of the device; and eliminating the effectof the identified motion pattern from a control motion used forcontrolling the device.
 2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein themotion pattern identified in the motion of the device is a recurringmotion pattern.
 3. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the motionpattern is identified before the start of the control motion.
 4. Amethod as claimed in claim 1, wherein: a motion pattern detected beforethe start of the control motion and a motion pattern during the controlmotion are identified in the device; only the motion pattern detectedbefore the start of the control motion is eliminated from the controlmotion.
 5. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein: in adevice-originating event, a predetermined period of time is allowed topass before information about the event is given to a user of thedevice; the motion pattern is identified during said period of time. 6.A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein: in a user-originating event, aninitiation impulse indicative of the start of the use of the device isreceived from a user; the motion pattern is identified after receptionof the initiation impulse.
 7. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein:the motion of the device is measured by means of one or more motionparameters.
 8. A method as claimed in claim 7, wherein: one or moremotion parameters measured are compared with a reference motion patternstored in advance in the device; the reference motion pattern isaccepted as identified when the comparison between one or more motionparameters measured and the reference motion pattern fulfils apredetermined threshold condition.
 9. A method as claimed in claim 7,wherein: an autocorrelation function is generated from the values of oneor more motion parameters measured; a recurring motion pattern isidentified from the autocorrelation function generated.
 10. A method asclaimed in claim 7, wherein: the one or more motion parameters measuredare compared with a control motion pattern stored in the device inadvance; the control motion is accepted as identified when thecomparison between one or more motion parameters measured and thecontrol motion pattern fulfils a predetermined threshold condition. 11.A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electronic device is amobile telephone.
 12. A method as claimed in claim 2, wherein therecurring motion pattern is mechanical vibration.
 13. A softwareproduct, wherein the software product comprises: a software routine forreceiving measurement information descriptive of a motion of the device,a software routine for identifying a motion pattern in the measurementinformation, and a software routine for eliminating the effect of themotion pattern from a control motion used for controlling the device andincluded in the measurement information.
 14. An electronic device,wherein the device comprises: means for identifying a motion pattern ina motion of the device; and means for eliminating the effect of themotion pattern from a control motion used for controlling the device.15. A device as claimed in claim 14, wherein the motion pattern to beidentified is a recurring motion pattern.
 16. A device as claimed inclaim 14, wherein the identification means are configured to identifythe motion pattern before the start of the control motion.
 17. A deviceas claimed in claim 14, wherein: the identification means are configuredto identify a motion pattern detected before the start of the controlmotion and a motion pattern during the control motion; and theelimination means are configured to eliminate only the motion patterndetected before the start of the control motion from the control motion.18. A device as claimed in claim 14, comprising: means for detecting thestart of a device-originating event; means to wait a predeterminedperiod of time before a user of the device is given information aboutthe event; and the identification means are configured to identify themotion pattern during said period of time.
 19. A device as claimed inclaim 14, comprising: means for receiving an initiation impulseindicative of the start of the use from a user of the device; and theidentification means are configured to identify the motion pattern afterreception of the initiation impulse.
 20. A device as claimed in claim14, comprising: means for measuring the motion of the device by means ofone or more motion parameters.
 21. A device as claimed in claim 20, theidentification means being configured to: compare one or more motionparameters measured with a reference motion pattern stored in advance inthe device; accept the reference motion pattern as identified when thecomparison between one or more motion parameters measured and thereference motion pattern fulfils a predetermined threshold condition.22. A device as claimed in claim 20, wherein the identification meansare configured to: generate an autocorrelation function from the valuesof one or more motion parameters measured; and identify a recurringmotion pattern from the autocorrelation function generated.
 23. A deviceas claimed in claim 20, comprising: means for comparing one or moremotion parameters measured with a control motion pattern stored inadvance in the device; means for accepting the control motion asidentified when the comparison between one or more motion parametersmeasured and the control motion pattern fulfils a predeterminedthreshold condition.
 24. A device as claimed in claim 14, the electronicdevice being a mobile telephone.